Our Specialist

Dr. Christopher Hobbs is the Director and Lead Specialist with Nobel ENT, Head Neck & Thyroid Surgery Centre. Having worked in three countries and with more than 15 years of surgical practice, he brings substantial international experience to our centre.

Education and Training

Dr. Hobbs was born and educated in the United Kingdom. He was awarded the top undergraduate scholarship to study Medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, Imperial College, London. He underwent surgical training in London, Bristol and Birmingham. During his training, he won a prestigious Royal College of Surgeons Research Fellowship and spent two years as a clinical research fellow under the mentorship of Professor Martin Birchall, one of world’s leading laryngeal specialists. This culminated in the award of a medical doctorate from the University of Bristol and a Hunterian Professorship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Subspecialty training

He spent two years in Australia, completing Advanced Fellowship training in Head & Neck Surgery and Laryngology/Voice at St.Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, and Head & Neck Oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. He won several awards for his fellowship including the Ellison-Cliffe Travelling Fellowship from The Royal Society of Medicine, the Lionel Colledge Memorial Fellowship from The Royal College of Surgeons of England and the HCA International Foundation Travelling Scholarship. As well as having extensive experience in adult ENT surgery, Dr. Hobbs is fully trained in paediatric ENT, having worked at The Royal Hospital for Children in Bristol and Birmingham Children’s Hospital in the UK, and Sunshine Hospital in Australia.

Specialist appointments

Dr. Hobbs was first appointed as a Consultant with Western Health in Melbourne in 2009. He has been practicing in Singapore since 2011, firstly as a Consultant in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and more recently as Chief of the Head & Neck Cancer service at TTSH, Adjunct Assistant Professor with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He is fully registered as a Specialist in Otolaryngology both in Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Clinical Interests

Dr. Hobbs’ clinical interests include laryngology (swallowing & airway problems, voice disorders and chronic cough), thyroid and parathyroid surgery, head & neck cancer, ENT problems associated with SCUBA diving, and paediatric ENT. Since being in Singapore, he has continued to develop his skills in head and neck surgery by completing advanced training in transoral robotic surgery (TORS) and robotic thyroidectomy in Hong Kong and South Korea. He was subsequently part of the first team to perform TORS at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He is also fully accredited and trained in Laser surgery, Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, Coblation techniques and Sialoendoscopy.

Research and Teaching

He is highly committed to research and teaching. He has published widely on all aspects of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery and has presented academic papers in the Australia, Canada, Europe, USA and the UK. He has won several prizes for his research including the ENT UK/Clinical Otolaryngology Review Prize, The Xomed-Treace Prize from the Otolaryngological Research Society and Section of Laryngology & Rhinology Research Prize from The Royal Society of Medicine.

During his time in Australia, he was in charge of undergraduate otolaryngology teaching at the Western Hospital Campus of the University of Melbourne and was shortlisted for Tutor of the Year Award. Whilst at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, he founded and chaired the Head and Neck Oncology Research Group, and set up a successful ongoing research collaboration with Nanyang Technological University. He was also Head & Neck Lead for the Singapore National Healthcare Group Residency training program in ENT. He has taught on several international ENT courses in Australia and Southeast Asia, and is co-founder & co-director of the Multidisciplinary Airway Rescue Simulation Training (MARST) course at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Professional Affiliations

The Academy of Medicine, Singapore

The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Singapore Society of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery

British Association of Otolaryngologists and Head & Neck Surgeons (ENT∙UK)

British Association of Head & Neck Oncologists

European Head & Neck Society

International Academy of Oral Oncology

Personal Profile

He is a keen sports enthusiast, with a particular liking for rugby and cricket. He enjoys long distance running and has completed full marathons in London, New York, Melbourne and Singapore. He is a PADI advanced open water scuba diver and an intermediate skier. Other interests include music and travel. He is married to an Australian and has three daughters.